


Honey Sweet

by Aisjustrunning



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: (blink and you miss it though), Aphrodisiacs, Baking, Domesticity, Fluff, Jack bakes, Kinda, M/M, Madison - Freeform, Magical Realism, everything is consensual I promise, have I memorised Madison’s map on google? maybe, time jumps
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-21
Updated: 2019-02-21
Packaged: 2019-11-01 20:17:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17874155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aisjustrunning/pseuds/Aisjustrunning
Summary: Bitty has a strong relationship with baking. Sometimes, baking to deal with his own feelings has unexpected consequences.





	Honey Sweet

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this idea since early 2016, when I reread Laura Esquivel's _Como agua para chocolate_. That book is wonderful and I don't think I did justice to Esquivel's concept.
> 
> The biggest thanks to [Phoebe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rvd) for the beta, who did wonders with the text. I'm not a native speaker and it would show A LOT if it weren't for her. Any error remains my own. Also thanks to [Clem](https://archiveofourown.org/users/smallmercies), who listened to this idea when it was a tiny seed and tried to encourage me to write it (it would take another year and a half for me to actually do it) and to [Andrea](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ink_Alchemist/pseuds/Ink_Alchemist), who is the best cheerleader. 
> 
> Needless to say, _Check, Please!_ belongs to Ngozi Ukazu and I'm just playing here.

**Winter - Chocolate chip cookies**

Ingredients: 

_3/4 cup butter, softened 3/4 cup granulated sugar 3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar, 2 large eggs, 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 2 1/4 cups plus 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1 1/2 (12-oz.) packages semisweet chocolate morsels_

To bake anything, the first step is usually to preheat the oven. Bitty sets the temperature to 350° and starts setting the ingredients on the counter. He has the butter, the sugar, the flour… but he can’t find the chocolate chips.

He texts the group chat, a simple _Baking cookies! Can anyone pick up chocolate chips on the way home? The ones from the murder Stop & Shop are better! :) _

Bitty puts the phone down, considering whether it’s worth starting with the dough when he doesn’t have the chocolate chips yet. He could always prepare something else…

The response comes about 10 seconds later.

Jack: _on my way!_

Bitty smiles and gets on beating the butter and the sugar. He knows the ingredients and the steps of his Moo Maw’s recipe by heart. He used to make them with her even when he was very little, helping her with the easier steps, like adding the chips. He loved seeing the little morsels disappear into the mixture. The memories always manage to cheer him up, and that’s why he’s making chocolate chip cookies right now. The cheering up is not working, though.

As he adds and beats the eggs, he can’t stop thinking about Jack. The whole situation is making him feel terrible. Jack has been… different, this year. Working together on the Women, Food, & American Culture project… it may not have been Bitty’s greatest idea. While they work together he seems more relaxed, like he’s letting Bitty see a part of him Bitty’s never seen before. Jack is an attractive guy, intense but funny in a way Bitty didn’t notice before. He’s terrible at cooking anything other than PB&Js—if that can even be called cooking—which Bitty is ashamed to admit he finds endearing. He’s also straight. For all Bitty knows, he may still be dating Camilla.

Bitty takes a deep breath, forcing himself to focus on beating the mixture until properly blended. He has to make an effort not to rub his eyes as he fights back tears, blinking very fast. It mostly works, but Bitty thinks his eyes must still be a bit red when Jack arrives with the chocolate chips, just as Bitty is done combining flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and is carefully adding the wet ingredients to it.

Jack hands him the chocolate chips, which Bitty takes with a smile, and sits at the table to watch Bitty bake. He never used to do that last year, but it’s happening more and more often, this quiet sitting together in the kitchen while Bitty bakes. It’s nice, and the dull sadness that came over Bitty before is replaced by a soft, warm feeling. The feeling only grows as Jack takes another spoon and helps Bitty scoop the dough onto the parchment paper.

“How was class?” Bitty asks, trying not to look at Jack’s hands too much and avoiding contact when both of them reach into the bowl with their spoons.

“Fine. I’m glad I took War in Film and Literature. Professor Everett recommended some new films I want to see. She said that--”

Bitty quickly loses track of what Jack is saying; the topic is admittedly not his favourite. But he can’t tune out Jack’s voice completely while he puts the cookie tray into the oven and sets the timer for 12 minutes. It’s beautiful, the way Jack talks about the things he loves. He thinks it would be overwhelming, being the recipient of that intensity. He cuts that train of thought as quick as it came; no point in dwelling. _He’s straight, he’s straight, he’s straight_.

He feels incredibly sad again.

Bitty is brought out of his thoughts by the sudden silence where before the air was filled with Jack’s voice. He looks up at Jack, who’s looking at him expectantly.

“I’m sorry, what were you saying?”

“I just wanted to know about your classes, if you can get your head out of your oven for a second,” Jack chirps with a smile.

“Oh, I can, and everything is fine. None is as fun as Women, History & American Culture, but I’m enjoying the courses so far! Next year will be harder when I have to fill my language requirement…”

The conversation is so easy that Bitty is startled when the oven timer goes off. The smell of cookies fills the kitchen when he takes out the tray and leaves the cookies to cool. He hopes the rest of the Haus doesn’t run to the kitchen to eat already. It’s very important to wait until the food is cool, he learned that from mother.

It really has nothing to do with Bitty wanting to spend some more time alone with Jack.

Once enough time has passed, Bitty gives Jack a cookie.

“Tell me how you like them?”

Jack’s face changes and, for a moment, it seems as if he’s going to cry. It lasts only a second, however, as Jack recomposes himself.

“These are--” he pauses for a second. “These are very good, Bittle. Best cookies I have had in… a very long time.”

Bitty doesn’t have a chance to reply before both Ransom and Holster burst into the kitchen.

“COOKIES!!!”

They grab two each and in a second the cookies have already been demolished.

Ransom seems on the verge of tears when Holster puts his arm around his shoulders. “Bro, can we watch _The Notebook_ now?” Holster asks. “Or _Titanic_. I feel like… I don’t know, I need a good cry, but like, about love. I feel--I don’t know. Sad.”

Ransom agrees, teary-eyed.

“Thank for the cookies, Bits,” he manages, before leaving the kitchen to go back to the attic, presumably to watch either _The Notebook_ or _Titanic_.

“That was weird,” Jack mentions when they are alone again. He is on his second cookie and seems a bit shaken himself.

“Yes, not sure what happened there. But what were you saying about my cookies?”

***

He bakes the same chocolate cookies again, just before Christmas.

He’s worried for Jack, confused about what he heard Kent Parson say at Epikegster, but this time he thinks about how nice it was before Parson arrived. How Jack opened up to him. How much he likes knowing Jack, in general. He feels warm when he finishes them, happier, and excited about the idea of sneaking them into Jack’s luggage and surprising him when he arrives home. He hopes Jack gets to feel some of that when he eats the cookies, how much Bitty cares reaches him.

**Spring - PB &J**

Ingredients: 

_For the bread: 1 1/2 cups warm water, 3/4 Tbsp fast-acting yeast (1 packet yields ~3/4 Tbsp or 2 1/4 tsp), 2 Tbsp maple syrup, agave, or honey if not vegan, 1/2 tbsp salt, 1 Tbsp flaxseed meal, 2 cups Bob’s Red Mill Whole-Wheat Pastry Flour, 1 3/4 cups Bob’s Red Mill Unbleached All-Purpose Flour (plus more for rolling / dusting), 2 Tbsp raw or roasted sunflower seeds, 2 Tbsp rolled oats_

_For the jam: 2 1/4 pounds nectarines, 12 ounces raspberries, 1 1/2 pounds sugar, salt, 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice_

_For the peanut butter: 2 cups unsalted shelled peanuts, 1/4 to 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 to 2 teaspoons honey, 1 to 3 teaspoons_ peanut or vegetable oil

Until he got to Samwell, Bitty didn’t know how uncommon it was for people to actually make bread regularly. Since he got to the Haus and saw the types of bread people bought, he values even more the fact that mother taught him how to make his own. Lately, it has allowed him to make Jack’s pregame PB&J sandwiches from scratch, bringing together homemade bread, jam and peanut butter.

He’s especially proud of the recipe he found for the Falcs’ playoff games, which included maple syrup. Jack laughed when, for the first round, Bitty stayed over and asked Jack for his Canadian maple syrup, which Bitty knew about even if Jack swore he never used it, to add to the warm water, yeast and flour mix.

It’s not uncommon now for Jack to linger in the kitchen while Bitty bakes, or even for him to help, mixing ingredients and following instructions carefully, as if they were on the ice and Bitty were his coach.

“You spent hours teaching me how to handle a check, now I’m teaching you how to handle dough,” Bitty had joked once, adding flaxseed to the dough Jack was slowly kneading.

This time, Jack is not contributing to the bread-making, or even to the conversation. Bitty is debating the benefits of nectarine and raspberry jam over the low hum of the food processor, which is currently blending roasted peanuts for the peanut butter. Jack’s just sitting at the table, idly drawing what probably is a power-play strategy in some leftover flour, if the number and position of the circles he has drawn on the surface is anything to go by. Jack doesn’t notice Bitty has finished the dough, has left it to rise and has approached the table. The processor is finally quiet, all the peanuts crushed to a paste.

“Hey,” Bitty says, taking Jack’s hands in his. Jack looks up at him, a weak smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. Bitty cups his cheek. “Honey. Stop.”

“I don’t know how to stop.” Jack leans into Bitty’s touch, closing his eyes.

“I know, love. But we have talked about it. You got this.”

Jack’s eyes remain closed when he replies, sounding small. “What if I don’t.”

“But you do. Remember what you always said to me? It’s just one game more.”

Jack nods but doesn’t open his eyes, so Bitty takes a more direct approach. He sits on Jack’s lap and pecks him on the mouth, lightly, “I’m making victory bread, dear. It has maple syrup in it. It’s so Canadian the hockey Gods have to be on your side.”

Jack honest-to-God laughs at that, and Bitty will take that as a win. “Now, stop doodling power play strategies in my flour and help me slice the nectarines.” He tries to stand up, but Jack holds him tight, chasing his mouth for a kiss that has little to do with the previous one. Bitty can still feel the slight tremble of Jack’s mouth when he catches Jack’s lower lip between his teeth, lightly.

“Ok, Mr Zimmermann,” Bitty says a while later when his lips start to get numb and he can’t feel Jack tremble anymore. “Let me go, I have stuff to do if you want your pre-game sandwich ready before you leave.”

“That’s not true. How long do you have to let the bread rise? Like two hours? One and a half if you want, so that we can work on those fruits for the jam. Plenty of time, eh?”

“Oh, goodness, you’re learning, love.” Bitty grins, repositioning himself on Jack’s lap and holding on to him. He can feel Jack’s dick getting hard under him.

“I pay attention. Well. One and a half hours. Where were we?”

***

Hours later, while Jack is in the shower and Bitty is finishing the sandwiches, he thinks about the game and how far they’ve come since Samwell’s last game the previous year, personally and together. Since then, he has achieved so much, almost everything he could wish for, and he wants Jack to feel like that, to win and get what he wants. He spreads the peanut butter, carefully calculating the butter to jam ratio, and feels that everything will be ok, for Jack and for them as a couple. He can sense the win.

**Summer - Frosted Sugar 'n' Spice Cookies**

Ingredients: 

_2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/3 cup butter (softened), 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar, 2 egg yolks, 5 ounces cream cheese (softened), 1 teaspoon orange zest, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract_

Bitty can’t wait until Jack arrives. It’s been over a month since Jack kissed him at graduation and Bitty feels as if he hasn’t seen his now boyfriend for a lifetime. It’s a bit of a let-down that the first time he’s going to see Jack since they got together is going to be in Madison and that they are going to have to pretend to be just friends, but Bitty is actually dying to show Jack a proper Southern 4th of July. He’s even making his favourite sugar 'n' spice cookies, with  red white and blue sprinkles, as his mother always used to make when he was little.

They have texted daily and skyped nearly as frequently, but that’s not even close to enough. Getting together with Jack a literal minute before they had to part ways felt like a cruel joke. Getting his hands on Jack is all he can think about while he beats the butter and sugar until the mix is creamy enough to add in the dry ingredients.

Nothing in their conversations has gone past flirting, resembling their usual chirping, and Bitty is getting frustrated, his mind providing him with images of Jack, shirtless after practice, just cooking or, in a more embarrassing time that made Bitty have to excuse himself to go to his room before finishing dinner, showering, even if Bitty has always made an active effort to follow basic team etiquette and not look in the locker room.

He has to work very hard to stop his mind from going back when he’s done with the dough and has to leave it to chill. He looks at the clock; if everything goes well, the cookies will be done by the time he has to pick Jack up from the airport and cool for decorating by the time they are back. They can work on that together.

His mother drives him to the airport and the ten minutes they have to wait at arrivals feel longer than the month and a half that has passed since Jack showed up out of the blue in his room after graduation and kissed him, even with his mother chattering about town gossip Bitty is unable to follow right now. When Jack crosses the doors, looking tired but good, with a Falcs-branded gym bag in hand, it’s all Bitty can do not to jump him right here.

He goes for a hug instead, and Jack hugs him back, without dropping the bag. He smells good as well.

“Goodness, I missed you so much,” Bitty mutters, low enough that he’s not sure even Jack heard him.

“I missed you too, Bits,” Jack replies, however, disentangling himself from Bitty’s arms to extend a hand towards Bitty’s mother. “Mrs Bittle. Nice to see you again.”

“Oh, just Suzanne,” she replies, bypassing the hand Jack is offering and giving him a hug of her own.

By the time they make it home,  mother has already updated Jack on the lives of a hundred people she is probably aware Jack doesn’t know, but when Bitty had glanced at Jack, sitting in the back of the truck, Jack didn’t seem bored or stressed at all.

After taking a picture of Jack and mother for Twitter, she ushers them upstairs for Jack to leave his things, and that’s finally when Bitty manages to do what he’s been waiting for for months. They’re barely past the door when Bitty has his hands on Jack’s hair, his lips on Jack’s mouth, which parts immediately, either out of surprise or because he was planning on doing the exact same himself. Jack lets the bag hit the floor and gets a hand of his own on Bitty’s hair.

Jack breaks the kiss just long enough to whisper “I’ve wanted to do this for so long,” before taking the initiative this time and capturing Bitty’s mouth in his again. His hands are roaming lower, caressing up and down Bitty’s back, when Bitty hears his mother’s steps coming upstairs. They separate just in time for mother to open to door. Bitty almost trips on the air mattress Coach left on the floor next to the bed for Bitty to sleep on while Jack takes the bed, unaware that Bitty 100% intends to share a bed with Jack tonight.

“Dicky, sugar-pie, why don’t you and your friend come down to decorate the cookies? They’re already cool enough,” mother says, seemingly oblivious to the fact that her son is redder than the weather would warrant, his hair is a mess and his _friend_ is not looking better himself.

Bitty has never been this frustrated in his entire life, but he throws a resigned look in Jack’s direction and follows his mother downstairs.

Decorating the cookies with Jack is a new kind of torture, standing close together and bumping into each other as they move around the kitchen, hands brushing when they reach into the bowl where the sugar and water mix for frosting is waiting. Bitty can’t believe he’s thinking this, but if his mother wasn’t there, still chattering, he would have Jack Zimmerman horizontal on the table this right minute.

That night, after helping mother get everything ready for the next day and having Coach join them for a walking tour around town, Bitty gets time alone with Jack again. However, after spending an afternoon listening to Coach and Jack speculate about the oncoming NHL season, walking and having to talk to every single person in town, Bitty mostly needs to sleep. Jack seems tired too; the trip from Montreal is a long one. They manage a few lazy kisses with the door locked and cuddle up to sleep.

***

The Fourth of July is spent eating, mostly. Coach starts grilling early and mother keeps on bringing out food from the kitchen, much more than Bitty and Jack helped her prepare yesterday. By the time they make it to the cookies, Bitty can barely eat one, even if they are delicious and the decorations ended up pretty enough despite how distracted Bitty was and how Jack is not known for his talent in the kitchen.

That may be a good thing, though, because after the first bite, all the pent up tension from the previous day is back. Bitty can feel himself getting redder by the minute and he sees from the corner of his eye that Jack, who has started eating a cookie as well, has crimson creeping up his neck as well.

Bitty stands up abruptly, startling both his parents and Jack.

“Eh. Uh.” He’s unsure what to say, now that he’s started. “Mother, can we take the truck? We wanted to. Eh. Watch the fireworks from the park?”

“Sure honey, but do y’all have to go now? There are still cookies and the fireworks won’t start for a few hours still…”

“We can... take a look around the park, pick a good spot. Yes. That,” Bitty replies, getting more antsy with every second that passes.

“But…”

“Suzanne, let the kids go,” Coach says. “They can come back later to finish the cookies.”

“Ok, save some for us!” Bitty says, almost already out the door, bringing a baffled Jack with him.

Finally on the truck, Bitty has to restrain himself again not to sit directly on Jack, who seems to be having the same problem as he struggles to fasten his seat belt.

“Ok. Ok. I know a place we can watch the fireworks perfectly.” Bitty says as he starts driving. If he goes past the creek, he knows they will be able to have some time alone, as most people gathered at the actual park to watch the fireworks. He probably drives faster than he should, but he can’t help it.

By the time they have parked on an empty field, the cool evening breeze dissipating the summer day’s warmth, he’s more relaxed, but he’s still ready to climb Jack like a tree, which is what he does once they are on the bed of the truck. He can’t believe he gets to kiss Jack for so long, out in the open, knowing that nobody will come here on this day. They make out for longer than Bitty even thought was possible, finally getting to explore each other, hands and mouths curious and longing after months of absence.

Bitty shivers when he feels Jack’s hand wander under his shirt, fingers cold against his warm skin, traveling down until it rests on Bitty’s hip. Jack breaks the kiss and Bitty sighs.

“You really want to do this?” Jack asks. “I don’t know what has gotten over me today, but…”

“Jack, I’ve wanted to do this since the moment you first kissed me. For a month and a half, it’s the only thing I have been able to think about. I almost burst into flames yesterday as we decorated the cookies.”

“ _Tabarnak_ , me too.” He doesn’t say another word, just goes back to making out, letting his hand wander to Bitty’s belt. From the moment Jack’s hand’s inside Bitty’s underwear, it’s all frantic, Jack pumping up and down, the friction too much but at the same not enough. Bitty hadn’t realised he closed his eyes, but he opens them when he feels Jack moan against his mouth, just to see that Jack has his other hand inside his own pants. They are more sharing breath than kissing at this point, but their lips never stop touching, neither of them willing to lose that contact. Bitty’s hands never leave Jack’s neck.

It doesn’t take long for Bitty to come, Jack following him shortly after. Bitty collapses on Jack and immediately cuddles against his chest.

“This is going to get gross very soon,” Jack says, kissing lightly Bitty’s ear. “I have tissue paper on my pocket…”

“It’s already pretty gross, love,” Bitty whispers, sleepily.

“Love, eh?” Bitty can almost hear the smile in Jack’s words.

“Yes, love. Now cuddle me,” too happy to feel embarrassed.

That’s when the fireworks begin.

***

When they get back, mother and Coach are nowhere to be found and there are almost no cookies left.

Bitty doesn’t want to know where they are.

**Autumn -  Apple Pie**

Ingredients: 

_9-10 apples, ¼ Cup Apple Juice, 2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice, ¾ Cup Sugar, ¼ Cup Corn Starch, a dash of salt, 1 teaspoon Vanilla, 1 teaspoon Cinnamon, ½ teaspoon allspice. For the dough, follow your usual dough recipe._

Apple pie is the best fall food, Bitty thinks as he preheats the oven to 475º. And fall is Bitty’s favorite season.

For years, fall meant going back to Samwell, to being freely himself. Fall was seeing Jack again after a summer in Georgia. Fall was friends and hockey and home. Fall was apple pies made in the Haus oven, the smell of sugar and cinnamon filling the kitchen and wafting upstairs, summoning the rest of the team.

Fall was baking with Jack for class, getting flour all over themselves and slowly falling in love, all sadness completely erased from the memories, in hindsight. Fall was Dex and Fox helping him peel apples during his senior year and cutting them for him in small pieces, Nursey sitting there just looking, having been forbidden from touching any knives after one too many accidents; talking to Lardo on the phone while he mixed the flour, water and butter for the crust, hearing Shitty, Ransom and Holster screaming about something in the background and feeling for their poor roommate. Fall was a bunch of memories of his life slowly changing, of building up something, of Chowder and Tango waiting impatiently for a pie to be ready with the waffles in tow, of Whiskey taking a plate and being unable to stop smiling afterwards, Bitty’s calmness and happiness at making something he has known how to do since he was old enough to start helping mother, to read and follow a recipe, seeping into the dough and lifting the mood of the whole Haus.

Now, fall is seeing Jack get ready for a game while Bitty mixes the lemon juice and the vanilla in front of the camera, and having to stop filming when he gets distracted by the sight of his fiancé in his game-day suit, ring in a chain around his neck, ready to begin a new season.

He pulls Jack close by the tie and kisses him, on his tiptoes, after helping him with the knot, unable to resist the urge to be near Jack. There is a bit of flour on Jack’s collar now, and Bitty brushes it off with a flick of his hand, knowing by experience that letting the team see it would lead to unending chirping by the Falcs for both of them.

“Even if you manage to remove the flour, I still smell like I have been kissing my apple-pie-baking fiancé,” Jack said, his lips quirking up in a smile.

“They all wish they smelled as good as you do, honey,” Bitty replies, breathing in. Jack smells like his shower gel and the cologne Bitty got him for Christmas, but there is a distinct apple and cinnamon undertone there. It’s extremely nice and Bitty is going to have to let go if he doesn’t want Jack to be late. He also has a video to finish.

“Right, Mr Zimmermann. You have to leave and I have a pie to finish,” he says, pushing Jack towards the bedroom so that he can finish getting dressed.

Jack lets himself be manhandled easily. “Have you talked to your mother already?” he asks, while he grabs his bag.

“Yes. She asked me to wish you luck. She and Coach will be watching at home.”

“Good. I hope they can come up for a game soon.”

“Me too.”

They kiss again, Bitty making sure he’s not leaving any trace on the suit. It’s short and sweet, comfortable after years together.

Once Jack has left, Bitty turns the camera on again.

“My dear followers, as you know, this pie is to share with the rest of the Falconers’ SOs during the game, so it has to be perfect. That’s why I am making this special hockey-themed lattice. I’ll explain how to do it in a minute--”

Fall has become watching the Falconers’ home opener in a box with Marty’s family and the rest of the SOs, sharing a pie and seeing everybody’s smile grow bigger with every bite, while the Falcs’ second Stanley Cup championship banner is raised to the rafters.

Fall is news beginning within the continuation of their life together.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I'm on [tumblr](http://ilovetextingandscones.tumblr.com/) sometimes crying about hockey.
> 
> The recipes used in the fic:  
> [Chocolate chip cookies](http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/all-time-favorite-chocolate-chip-cookies)  
> [Bread](https://minimalistbaker.com/the-easiest-whole-grain-seeded-bread)  
> [Jam](https://www.marthastewart.com/1128024/basic-jam-recipe)  
> [Peanut butter](https://www.inspiredtaste.net/21318/how-to-make-peanut-butter-three-ways)  
> [Frosted-sugar-n-spice-cookies](http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/frosted-sugar-n-spice-cookies)  
> [Apple pie](http://www.southernplate.com/2008/07/mamas-apple-pie.html)


End file.
